Saturday, April 9, 2011

The Conservative Platform Mentions 'Coalition' 42 Times But is Silent on Healthcare

I'm beginning to seriously worry about the state of Stephen Harper's mental health. Fortunately for him, the opposition members are not venomous enough to sound the alarm.

Because while Harper with the help of Sun Media and others, are launching horrendous personal attacks on Michael Ignatieff and his wife, and are dropping hints about Jack Layton not being unable to lead because he's recovering from cancer (shame on you Mike Duffy), no one has gone after Harper's family.

But when we look at this man's actions, from his personal photo gallery and constant reference to 'his' steady hand, 'his' leadership, 'his' handling of the economy, it's hard not to think that this man may suffer from clinical narcissism.

The entire platform pays homage to 'him. And the fear of a 'coalition' is not that it would be 'reckless' but that it could mean 'his' job.

Lying is now so natural that he doesn't even break a sweat. Spending millions of our tax dollars ($247 million to date) on self-promotion ads, are not seen by 'him' as a waste of our money, because they are about 'him'.

A government of one. And a very 'reckless' government of one that puts unsafe and over priced fighter jets, prison expansion and corporate tax cuts ahead of Canadians.

Who believes that tax credits (in the future when the books are balanced) for families who can afford $1000.00 in sports programs for their children and gym memberships for themselves, are more valuable than families struggling just to put food on the table.

One in ten children live in poverty in this country. One in four aboriginal children live in poverty. For children under six the rate is higher, with 40% of aboriginal children in that age group living in poverty.

And though neoconservatives believe that we are only poor because we choose to be poor, 40% of children living in poverty have at least one parent working full time.

More and more, the Conservatives are scrambling for the support of the cream rising to the top, while the rest of us are swimming in the milk of broken promises and privatization schemes that continue to suck the financial life out of a once thriving nation.

And as the incomes of Canadians continue to fall or stagnate, and more are now not only unemployed, underemployed and precariously employed, we will soon be facing the end of public healthcare as we know it. It will be a two-tiered system that provides the best to the wealthy and crumbs to the rest of us.

If you have a chronic illness, good luck with that. You'll be dropped by these 'new' carriers faster than a Charlie Sheen 'girlfriend'.

Stephen Harper calls it a 'private' alternative. 'Choice' in healthcare he says. But let's cut to the chase. What he's promoting is 'corporate healthcare'. And what will a corporation's priority be? Profit.

So it will be what Liberal health critic, Dr. Carolyn Bennett, calls 'sickcare'. The health of a nation is not a priority and we will be reduced to a pay scale in a corporate office.

This is one election issue that is getting very little notice and I'm afraid that it won't until it's too late.

The Health Accord with the provinces comes due in 2014, when it will have to be renegotiated. The Conservatives have set aside no new money for this. So where will the funds come from when he is breaking the bank on things we don't need and few Canadians want?

You could ask Stephen Harper, but he's not talking. Or at least he's limiting his talk to 4 questions a day, but will ignore any he has no interest in answering.

So yes, I'm worried about the state of Harper's mental health, because of the impact it could have on ours.

I cannot say I'm surprised. Even Fin Min Flat was on Power and Politics today and couldn't help but mention the coalition. I was disgusted that the host didn't say something to him about the lie. Gah, we need better media in this country.

If Tim Hudak back pedaled on Health Premium, it means he just received orders from Mike Harris to privatize health care. There is no other way of funding health care without other sources of revenue.

This is in concert with Harper. Flaherty has been stalling the renewal of the provincial health transfer deal, due to expire 2014.

That's why the Harper PMO is infiltrated by Nigel Wright, on loan from Onex. In case you don't know, Onex is in the American health care business, for example:

http://www.onex.com/Skilled_Healthcare_Group.aspx

Onex CEO Gerry Schwartz is Vice Chairman and a member of the Executive Committee of Mount Sinai Hospital, which affords him an inside look at Ontario health care.

That's also why Harper is parachuting Dr. Kellie Leitch into Simcoe Grey, bumping off Helena Guergis on made up allegations, even though she has been cleared by the RCMP, and even though Harper continues to keep MP Devinder Shory in caucus while being investigated by the RCMP and Alberta Police in the BMO mortgage fraud case.

You see, Dr. Leitch runs an MBA (notice not MPA) programme for health care. She's in the business of training health care people into business people, turning health care into business enterprises.